Breaking in the New Kitchen: Potato Soup (seeking perfection)

I've moved again, due to life complications. I'm still lucky enough to be in Manhattan, which means I have access to so many wonderful things it can be overwhelming.

I'm in a studio, which I've nicknamed Small Spot. It's a cute place, but my counter space has been reduced by 60-75% and I'm getting used to a whole new setup. 

It's also winter. Grey days and life stress have made me want comfort food and this week it's potato and leek soup. I couldn't find the recipe I made years ago, but the ingredients were pretty simple. So I hunted down recipes, more to get the proportion of potatoes to liquid than anything else.

This recipe is the closest to what I made. It's a modification of a Julia Child recipe (that one is at the bottom of the page), and I think it could do with some more tweaking.

• 6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4" pieces (most of the recipes I saw said russet, a few friends have since said Yukon Gold)
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 T olive oil, divided(because I forgot to buy butter). This was actually truffle olive oil I had been given as a gift.
• 3 leeks, white and light green parts, washed, chopped and washed again
• 1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 T fresh thyme
• 1 T dried parsley
• Black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cream
• 12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

This is a really easy recipe. First, heat 1 T of the oil in a soup pot on medium-low heat and add your garlic. Sauté until golden brown, stirring frequently, about 5-10 minutes. Add the other T of oil and add your leeks, again stirring frequently until soft, about 5 minutes. Add your potatoes to the pot, add 1 T of dried parsley, the thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir well, coating the potatoes with all the other ingredients. Add the chicken broth and turn the heat up until the soup has come to a boil. Turn heat down to medium (there should still be bubbling) and cook for about 40 minutes or until potatoes are easily smashed with a masher or fork.

Turn off the heat, stir in the cream. Let your soup cool for about ten minutes. I mashed the potatoes a bit before a I put in the stick blender, but as you wish. Blend until smooth, totally okay to leave some potatoes unblended. Serve, top with crumbed bacon (figure 3 slices a serving).

While this smelled delicious and tasted okay while it was cooking, the soup came out a lot milder than I liked. Next time I make it, there are going to be more garlic cloves and twice as many leeks. Maybe a shallot or two. I experimented a bit with the leftovers. Sour cream was a definite win in the garnish Department. Some crushed garlic kind of got lost. I tried a heavy hand with herbs de Provence, which was interesting, but not quite there. The winner was shaking crushed dried rosemary into the soup before reheating. I did not measure it, but you could see it throughout.

If you try this, please let me know!